Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Clapton and the avalanche of work

Okay. I don't have much time, but I wanted to write a little something about the Eric Clapton concert I went to last week.

I know Clapton is an untouchable god of rock and blues, but I didn't realize how much I admired him until he walked on stage (already jamming the hell out) and I burst into tears. It probably surprised me more than it surprises anyone reading this. He continued dominating for two solid hours, with a rotation of three guitars, hitting some of the classics: "Layla," "Lay Down Sally," "I Shot the Sheriff," a faux-closing with "Cocaine" and, coming back on stage for an encore, blew us away with "Crossroads." I was riding a concert high most of the weekend, and then I realized that this week is the week from hell. I have an exam tomorrow, a paper due next Tuesday, and two papers due the following week. So I'm buckling down (finally) and powering through the next fourteen days. Then I have four days to pack my suitcase, do my final gift shopping, hit the city sights I still haven't gotten to, and get ready to board a plane back home.

Things I will not miss:

the toilet being in the shower

living in an all-girls' dorm

the complete absence of comfortable furniture ANYWHERE in this country

being a foreigner

the glitchy Internet connections

strange paper products (i.e. napkins that are basically wax paper)

Things I will miss:

food

friends

the opportunity to exercise my Spanish skills

the wine

being of legal drinking age

the city itself

the prevailing feeling of adventure

Things I'm eager to go home to:

my family

my house

couch

bed

kitchen

my dogs

my friends

my town

English

my country

I'm going to Montevideo this weekend, so hopefully I'll get a chance to write about it next week. If not, I'll do a reminiscing entry my last week here. I leave you with this: